Marquette Women, Villanova Men Lead After Day One Of The #BIGEASTtrack Championships
Results from Day One | Championship Central
GENEVA, Ohio – After the first day of the 2020 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships Presented by Jeep, Marquette leads on the women’s side with 56 points with three event wins, while Villanova is first on the men’s side with 62 points. The championship took place at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio for the second straight year.
During Sunday’s competition, Butler won four events, three on the men’s side. The Bulldogs are in third place in the men’s competition behind Marquette with 52 points. Rounding out the standings for the men are DePaul in fourth (16 points), Georgetown (14 points), Providence (nine points) and Xavier (two points). Final events for the men included the 5,000-meter run, distance medley relay, pole vault, long jump and weight throw.
For the women, Providence won two events, while Georgetown, Villanova, DePaul and Butler each won one. Behind Marquette, Villanova is in second with 42 points and the Bulldogs in third with 39 points. Rounding out the women’s standings are DePaul (27 points), Providence (24 points), St. John’s (19 points), Georgetown (18 points) and Xavier (nine points). Finals for Sunday included the pole vault, weight throw and long jump, 5,000-meter run, distance medley relay and women’s pentathlon.
Butler’s men’s individual titles included senior Euan Makepeace in the 5,000-meter run (14:11.78). Makepeace was last year’s indoor 3,000-meter champion and was this year’s cross country individual winner in the fall. Makepeace will look for his second title of the meet in Monday’s 3,000-meter final. He currently has the best time in the event (7:58.99). Bulldog senior Wade Walder won the pole vault with a height of 4.85 meters. Walder is also competing in the men’s heptathlon, which will finish on Monday. Like his classmate Makepeace, he will be looking for event win No. 2 of the championship as he is the defending champion in the event. Makepeace and Walder’s classmate, Sam Robinson earned 10 points for Butler with a distance of 7.38 meters. On the women’s side, Butler junior Niki Ezeh won the pentathlon with 3,678 points. In the multi-event, she won the 60-meter hurdles and shot put.
In the distance medley relay, Providence won on the women’s side and Villanova on the men’s. The Friars crossed the finish line at a time of 11:41.69. The race was run by a foursome of freshmen with Tessa Hunt, Niamh Gowing, Alex O’Neill and Lilly Tuck. The second-place finishers, Villanova, were also a squad of rookies. The Wildcats crossed at 11:43.53 with freshman Brynne Sumner, Alexis Martin, Nikki Merrill and Anna Mark-Helwigh. On the men’s side, the Wildcats won with a time 9:47.80. The Villanova DMR squad consisted of Josh Phillips, Konrad Bayer, Charlie O’Donovan and Nick Steele.
The women’s 5K was won by Providence junior Abbey Wheeler with a time of 15:49.65. In second was Butler’s Emily Royston (16:13.76) with Xavier’s Anna Kostarellis in third (16:25.95).
Villanova’s Ashley Preston repeated as a winner in her event, the pole vault, which was the final event in the arena on Sunday. Preston finished with a height of 4.05 meters.
DePaul’s Jade Gates won the weight throw, the Blue Demons’ first gold in the event at the indoor championships for the women. Gates threw a distance of 20.20 meters. On the men’s side, Marquette sophomore Vinnie Voudrie won with a 17.16-meter throw.
In the women’s long jump, Georgetown’s Aniella Delafossa won with a distance of 5.81 meters. Delafossa, a rookie, was also the first Hoya women’s winner in the league’s indoor championship.
Championship action on the track begins at 10 a.m. with the men’s heptathlon 60-meter hurdles. The full event schedule and meet program can be found on the
BIG EAST Track & Field Championship Central.
Meet program for Championship Monday (PDF)
Women’s Results (6 Events Scored)
1. Marquette – 56 pts.
2. Villanova – 42
3. Butler – 39
4. DePaul – 27
5. Providence – 24
6. St. John’s – 19
7. Georgetown – 18
8. Xavier – 9
Men’s Results (5 events Scored)
1. Villanova – 62 pts.
2. Marquette – 52
3. Butler – 36
4. DePaul – 16
5. Georgetown – 14
6. Providence – 9
7. Xavier – 2
# # #